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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28058031">Version Control</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TumbleDragon/pseuds/TumbleDragon'>TumbleDragon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Codependency, Comedy, Drama, Drama &amp; Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Flashbacks, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Oneshot, Race, Time Travel, Unhealthy Relationships</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:33:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,449</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28058031</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TumbleDragon/pseuds/TumbleDragon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Oneshot. Takes place after season 2. The team finds themselves unceremoniously removed from the Sparrow Academy and now must find a way back to their original timeline. But as the siblings bond and learn how to work together, painful memories plague Luther and Allison.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Allison Hargreeves &amp; Diego Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves &amp; Vanya Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves/Diego Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves/Luther Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves &amp; Luther Hargreeves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Version Control</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Version Control</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>Oneshot. Takes place after season 2. The team finds themselves unceremoniously removed from the Sparrow Academy and now must find a way back to their original timeline. But as the siblings bond and learn how to work together, painful memories plague Luther and Allison.</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>*Author’s Note: I’m normally pretty ambivalent about Allison/Luther shipping. It’s not really my thing, but I just had an idea that wouldn’t go away.</p>
<p>Tags: Angst, Spoilers for Season 2, In between Season 2 and Season 3, character study, flashbacks to the past, Allison/Luther, some slight Allison/Diego.</p>
<p>Warnings: language, some sexual content, references to past self-harm and negative body image, racism, codependency.</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <br/>
    <br/>
    <br/>
    <br/>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>
  <em> ~* 2003 *~ </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>Allison pulled the duvet covers over her head in the hopes that it would make her drowsy. Earlier that day, she and her siblings observed the anniversary of Five’s disappearance. In typical Reginald fashion, he used every opportunity to use Five’s fate as a parable for disobedience. Five defied Reginald’s demand regarding time travel, and he paid the ultimate price. At Pogo’s request, the children were given an extra two hours of free time before bedtime, and no data-gathering while they slept. Instead of reading in the library or playing a game with the boys, Allison chose to spend her free time alone in her room. She felt almost...broken. She did not shed a tear for her brother on the day of his disappearance. Or the morning after. Or the weeks that followed. And on this day that was meant to observe a whole year of his absence, she still did not cry. She just felt very tired and strained. She then heard faint knocking on her door.</p>
<p>“It’s me. Can I come in?” a familiar voice called out to her.</p>
<p>“Sure, Luther,” she whispered.</p>
<p>Slowly, the door opened and her blonde brother approached her before sitting next to her on the bed. He wrapped his arms around her in a gentle embrace. Allison sighed and rested her head on the crook of his neck. She delighted in how soft his pajamas felt against her cheek. Despite all of her previous tossing and turning, she could easily fall asleep on him if given the chance.</p>
<p>“How are you feeling?” he gently cooed.</p>
<p>“Not so good.” she sighed. “I think that something’s wrong with me.”</p>
<p>“Oh?” he pulled away to see her face. He hated to see her upset. </p>
<p>“It’s just…I don’t know how to feel about Five. He was...<em> is </em>... our brother. I love him. But I think that something is wrong with me. Vanya cried for him last year. Ben and Klaus cry for him too. Diego stutters a lot whenever he talks about him. They try to hide it, but I’ve seen them. But I can’t do it...I don’t know why.”</p>
<p>Luther nodded as he took it all in. </p>
<p>“I don’t think you’re broken, Alli.” he asserted as he held her hand in his, “You and Five weren’t that close.”</p>
<p>Allison ripped her hand away from his and shook her head.</p>
<p>“But that shouldn’t matter, should it?”</p>
<p>“I uh...I don’t know,” he replied honestly. </p>
<p>“The thing is, Luther...if <em> you </em> went missing instead, then I would have <em> never </em>stopped crying. And that’s what is so messed up.”</p>
<p>Luther nodded and pulled her close to him. </p>
<p>“Same with you, Alli. I don’t know what I would do. But I would really try not to think about it. Five was...kind of difficult to get close to.”</p>
<p>Allison could agree with that. Out of all of the kids, Five was a genius and an insufferable one at that. Even if he were born without powers and to a normal family, he would have probably made waves. It was just the luck of the draw that he also happened to have the uncanny ability to teleport. From when they were little, Five would chatter their ears off about geometric translations, rotations, vectors, and how he could apply all of those principles every time he teleported.  He would tell them that their whole world was a three-dimensional axis and his teleportation was like a “cheat code” that simply allowed him to appear at any coordinate in that axis.  That is how he saw the world --- It was one big game that could be hacked with the same mental equations that allowed Five to jump anywhere. Five was undoubtedly talented and brilliant, but he was also defiant and disrespectful.  Despite his immense value to the group, working with him in a team setting was exhausting.</p>
<p>Noticing that Allison was deep in thought again, Luther slowly turned her face towards his before placing a soft kiss on her lips. He wanted to be her distraction from now on. As long as they were forced to live in such a dysfunctional home situation, he was willing to do whatever it took to make her happy. Allison returned the kiss and soon found herself becoming carried away.   It was shortly after Five vanished that they started becoming more affectionate with each other. Once Luther began moving his hands down her body, Allison felt an electricity spread from her mouth and emanate throughout her. She jolted upright and pulled away from Luther’s embrace.</p>
<p>“Um...” she hesitated to explain herself.\</p>
<p>“Did I do something wrong?” he asked worriedly.</p>
<p>Allison shook her head and retreated back under the covers.</p>
<p>“You’re fine. It’s just...I feel differently about us sometimes.”</p>
<p>“Different how?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know...More excited, I guess? Let’s just go to bed.”</p>
<p>Luther nodded and crawled over to join her. Once under the covers, he removed his wristwatch and programmed the alarm button. There was no way that he was going to let them sleep in and get busted by Mom again. The last time they were caught, Grace had gently woken them up and escorted Luther back to his room. She gave them both a stern look, but surprisingly never seemed to have divulged her discovery to Pogo or Reginald. After placing the watch on Allison’s nightstand, he then wrapped his arms and body around her and kissed her head.  Later that night, soft cries and unsteady breathing interrupted his dreams. </p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” she cried, “I had a bad dream.”</p>
<p>“It’s okay,” he whispered as he wiped the tears from her cheek, “It wasn’t real.”</p>
<p>“It was about Five...I dreamt that he….that he’s dead.”</p>
<p>They laid in silence until her breathing settled. The blue light of early morning began to flood the room. Luther stretched out into a yawn before curling up around Allison once more.</p>
<p>“I told you that you aren’t broken,” he whispered into her ear.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> ~*2019*~ </em>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>It did not take long before this <em> new </em> version of Reginald Hargreeves instructed the Sparrow Academy to remove the intruders that appeared in their foyer. Luther and Five attempted to reason with Reginald and convince him to let them stay the night, but their pleas were cut short as soon as a sharp projectile zipped into Five’s direction. The boy teleported just in time before the weapon could pierce his eye, leaving the sharp object embedded in the mahogany wall behind him. A second projectile impaled the Commission briefcase in his hand. Sparks erupted from the puncture.</p>
<p>“What the <em> fuck </em>?!” screamed Five, “We need that!”</p>
<p>“Potential explosive device has been defused.” a smug voice announced from the shadows. </p>
<p>Five dropped to his knees as his rattled nerves shook his body. </p>
<p>“<em> ‘Explosive device </em>’?” his voice cracked as he banged his fist on the floor and gradually lost steam.  </p>
<p>“Consider that a warning from one of my dear siblings,” shouted Ben. “Trust me. You <em> really </em> don’t want to see what I can do.”</p>
<p>The Umbrella Academy siblings forced themselves to accept their new reality, in spite of the disorienting effects of time sickness.</p>
<p>“You’re right. We don’t.” Allison huffed, “Come on guys. This isn’t going to work.”</p>
<p>Diego caught a slight flutter in Allison’s eye when she met his gaze. Did she have a plan?</p>
<p>“Fine. We hear you, Pops,” shouted Diego as he grabbed a near-catatonic Five by his blazer and dragged him towards the front door. Predictably, Klaus had already beat them to the outside sidewalk. Diego slightly nodded towards Luther as he caught up to him at the door.  Without hesitation, Pogo slammed the door behind them and various locks tumbled and latched into place.</p>
<p>“Just like that?” shouted Luther, “We gave up just like that?”</p>
<p>“Every version of our father is an asshole!” barked Diego, “He <em> had </em> to remember us from Dallas. And yet, he <em> still </em> would have been happy to see us get sliced and diced by his Sparrow freaks!”</p>
<p>“So?” retorted Luther, “We probably could have taken those guys...”’</p>
<p>“Yeah!” piped Vanya, “Especially with my help.”</p>
<p>Klaus and Diego looked at both Vanya and Luther in shock.</p>
<p>“I love you Vanya, but you can barely control your powers!” chuckled Klaus, “No offense. But it’s true.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, and then what?” asked Allison, “We defeat or kill all of his Sparrows. And then what? He still doesn’t <em> want </em>us.”</p>
<p>“Wait, why didn’t you just <em> rumor </em>them into letting us stay?” Luther asked her combatively.</p>
<p>“First of all, my powers don’t <em> work </em> that way.” she retorted defensively, “Second, It isn’t worth it. If there is one thing I learned from Dallas, it’s that easy fixes aren’t always the best in the long run.  Even if it were to work, Reginald and his Birdies need to organically <em> want </em>us there in order for them to be of any help to us. Let’s just rest for the night and figure out a way to get back to our timeline by ourselves.”</p>
<p>“<em> If </em> there is a way back.” muttered Five as he stared vacantly at the ground he was sitting on. </p>
<p>Silence washed over them as his words sank in. They all knew that was the other possibility, but none of them wanted to admit it. Allison choked down a small sob at the thought of never seeing Claire again. </p>
<p>“Fine, let’s rest and work out a plan,” announced Luther as he started walking towards the crosswalk and waving to his siblings to follow him. Once they continued to follow his lead and pass the bridal shop on Plummer street, Diego broke the silence. </p>
<p>“So what’s the plan Big Guy?” he asked.</p>
<p>Luther shrugged as he surreptitiously eyed the bride and groom mannequins in the window display.</p>
<p>“I uh...don’t really have one. I just needed us to get away from there. You know Dad is as paranoid as they come. He probably had the front perimeter of the building wired for surveillance.”</p>
<p>“True.” nodded Diego in agreement. </p>
<p>“You know fellas,” chimed in Five as he caught up with his brother’s brisk pace, “We don’t have to completely ditch the idea about getting back there. Especially with my help. We just gotta be careful.”</p>
<p>Diego was shocked by Five’s newly energized demeanor. He must have thought of something so hopeful that it reinvigorated him. Luther averted his attention from bystanders’ stares and kept forging ahead. No matter how long he lived with this body, he could still never quite get used to the feeling of eyes sizing him up and down.</p>
<p>“Uh-huh. What did you have in mind, Five?”</p>
<p>“Well, they’re just like us. They’re heroes, right?” replied Five, “They will eventually get sent on a mission. That will make it the perfect time for me to teleport into the house, find Dad’s notes on time travel, and then get the hell out of there.”</p>
<p>“Wait, you know for a fact that Dad had notes on that?” interjected Allison from behind.</p>
<p>“Not quite. But back in Dallas, he gave me some advice that leads me to believe that he knows more about time travel than he leads on...A lot more. I mean, he is a Renaissance Man. He has dabbled in a lot of things. Anyway, where are we going, Luther?”</p>
<p>“He doesn’t know,” answered Diego, “But we need a place. Now. Time travel has fucking drained me. I can barely stay awake…”</p>
<p>Luther nodded. It was getting late and he did not feel like walking with his siblings aimlessly around the city at night.</p>
<p>“I know a place…” yawned Klaus. “We’re almost there.”</p>
<p>“Please don’t tell me it’s that goddamned motel where---” began Diego. His anger was clearly mounting.</p>
<p>“Oh my God, Diego! I would never! Besides, you’re not the only one who had a bad time there. I would never go back. No, this place is like a second home to me. The rates are totally economical! The rooms are <em> relatively </em>clean...”</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>Klaus pointed at a tall neon sign in the distance.  The “Capital Motel” beamed down on them in magenta letters.  Once they were inside the lobby, Luther and Allison pooled together the small amount of savings that they took with them from the past. Seeing as they were unemployed for most of their time, Klaus and Vanya did not have much to contribute. For Allison and Luther, as it turns out, boxer and hairstylist pay from the 1960s did not really go far in this decade, even with the Capital’s rock bottom rates. Five nonchalantly whipped out a hundred dollar bill and placed it with the remaining pile of money on the counter. The siblings all gave each other the same surprised look. The concierge raised an eyebrow before shrugging and running through his ledger for three vacant rooms. Luther and Five took the room opposite from Vanya and Allison. Klaus and Diego ended up with a room two doors down from their sisters. After inspecting their rooms, the six of them retreated to Luther and Five’s room.  For a moment, with all of them sitting around each other on the beds, it almost felt like they were back at home. Luther was all too aware that Allison chose to sit close to him on the bed. It surprised him that she wanted to---his body weighed down the edge of the cheap mattress so much that Allison was slightly dipping towards him. He fought back the urge to clasp her hand in his. </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>“So Five, how much cash do you have on you?” inquired Diego.</p>
<p>“Hmm...Over two grand in cash. Possibly ten grand total, if you count the Commission credit cards.” </p>
<p>“<em> What? </em>!” shouted the siblings in unison.</p>
<p>“Where did you get that much money from?” demanded Luther.</p>
<p>Five chuckled and pulled out cards and rolled bills from his pockets, socks, and underwear.</p>
<p>“You aren’t the most observant bunch. When I went to grab the suitcase off of that dead agent, I pickpocketed a few of them. Grabbed as much cash and cards as I could.”</p>
<p>“If you have ten grand on you, then why didn’t you say something sooner so we could at least pick better <em> accommodations </em>?” whined Klaus, “This place is a dump!”</p>
<p>“Because Genius,” spat Five, “Between the six of us, we have to make this last for who knows how long. And besides, I have doubts about the credit cards. The Commission will probably deactivate them soon. But might as well get our money’s worth out of them and try…”</p>
<p>“How does credit work for The Commission?” Vanya asked skeptically, ‘Like, between timelines and stuff?”</p>
<p>“I worked there for years and even <em> I’m </em>not sure how their funds work.” huffed Five.</p>
<p>"Five, forgive me for doubting your reasoning abilities," began Allison, "But how are Dad’s notes supposed to help us jump back in time?  Back to what, exactly? We screwed everything up. We would have to go back to the 1960s and somehow...stop ourselves from engaging with him and changing his mind about us. And then there is the whole apocalypse thing that still happened in our 2019 timeline."</p>
<p>“Sorry about that…” mumbled Vanya. </p>
<p>"Yes," sighed Five "We <em>would </em>have to go back to Dallas. Which I know that none of us want to do, but we have to. Jumping in space is easy. The hardest part about manually jumping back in time, for me anyway, is to keep my calculations straight the entire time. And not get confused by the timestream or by other mathematical factors like age dilation and temporal refraction. I can do it accurately if I keep counting down by the second. I know that now…that's why I need Dad’s notes. I don't want to manually count down the seconds from now until that day we met him in Dallas. And then count the seconds forward to when we were kids, so we could...convince our younger selves to be nicer to Vanya. But then we would have to count the seconds forward to 2019… I'm good with numbers, but that is <em>way</em> too much tedium. But Dad’s notes might have a handy formula."</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>His siblings looked at him as if he were speaking a foreign language. </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>"Count...down? In seconds?" Asked Diego incredulously.</p>
<p>    "It finally happened…" cried Klaus, "The little guy finally lost his mind"</p>
<p>    "No, I have not!" shouted Five, "I've done it before. I explained to you how I saved your lives in the barn, right? Same thing. Just a bigger scale."</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>His siblings continued to stare at him blankly. Five groaned and grabbed a pen and a pad of motel stationery from the nightstand.  He scribbled a diagram before holding it up to show them.</p>
<p>     "This horizontal line here...that's the time stream. And each dot on it is like a major point in history that changes the future. Every time we excluded Vanya...every time we interacted with Dad in the 1960s...etc. What happened is that we did this."</p>
<p>He hastily drew a diagonal line that branched out from a dot on the horizontal line.</p>
<p>    "We made a tangential time stream. It has some similarities, but it's borked. So we need to roll backwards and count down until we get to the point before this first dot. That dot is when we had dinner with dad in Dallas….no, <em>wait</em>. We have to go even further."</p>
<p>Five drew one more dot behind the first one he drew and began vigorously scratching his head in frustration. </p>
<p>  "We have to go <em>back </em>to when Luther took a bus to meet Dad. <em>Dammit</em>, Luther!"</p>
<p>    "I'm sorry!" Luther shouted sheepishly.</p>
<p>     "It's like...version control," exclaimed Vanya, "Like with a computer's software history that gets reverted when something breaks.”</p>
<p>     "Exactly!" Shouted Five "That's a good comparison. When did you get into computers?"</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>Vanya shrugged bashfully.</p>
<p>   "I mean...I took some classes here and there."</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>“Anyway, we need to rest tonight.” announced Five, “Trust me, you’ll want to go to bed early tonight. Time travel gives you some weird REM sleep. And then tomorrow we’ll have to get some clothes and essentials.”</p>
<p>“And figure out our recon plan for the Sparrow Academy,” added Luther.</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>Five nodded in agreement. The meeting ended and the four other siblings left Five and Luther alone in their room. After watching a few hours’ worth of sitcoms, the two brothers hardly talked before retiring for the night. They wordlessly stripped down to their boxers and crawled into their beds.  That night, Luther’s dreams were vivid and intense. At one moment, he was back in the ring and getting his head bashed in by a heavyweight that towered over him. He was kneeling on the mat and felt too paralyzed to block or dodge the attacks. His blood sprayed the air every time the opponent’s fist connected with his jaw.  When he was not being assaulted by his imaginary opponent, he dreamt about his night with Rave Girl. Normally, Luther could only recall a few moments of their tryst and the rest was a blur. But that night, his visions of her were clear and concrete. Milky breasts heaved and settled as she rode him in a frantic rhythm. While looking down, he could see that his chest and abs were smooth and proportionate. No more ape torso or arms. He closed his eyes as Rave Girl continued to enjoy every pleasure that his body had to offer her. Did he even remember her name? He felt strange about only referring to her as “Rave Girl”. Was it Rachel? Britney? Zoe? He then opened his eyes and froze at the realization that the woman on top of him was no longer the one he remembered taking home that fateful night. </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>“A-Allison?” he blurted out. His eyes traveled up and down The Rumor’s immaculate face and curves. </p>
<p>Luther ripped the sheets off of his body that was now drenched in sweat. While one hand was clenching the balled up linens, his other was tightly gripping his member. He groaned at the realization of what he had been doing while he slept. Luther quickly turned towards his brother’s side of the room to find Five snoring loudly and sprawled out on his mattress. As quietly as he could, Luther made his way to the bathroom and entered the shower. As cold water streamed down his face and chest, he felt all too aware of how he was standing diagonally in order to fit his frame in the bathtub. He ran his fingers over the coarse hair and faded scars over his chest. He had come a long way from when he used to compulsively scratch and pick at himself while cloistered away on the moon. But it was nights like these that still tempted him. </p>
<p>
  <em> I used to have a good body... </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Stop! That’s a bad thought. My new body is...kind of good. And it's...functional. It’s not quite as strong as before, but it's still strong.  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> There. That’s better… </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> But who could ever love this body? Not just...fuck it...but love it? </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Well...you got me there. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>He turned off the faucet and carefully stepped out of the tub and shower. After toweling down and returning to his bed, he briefly considered staying up until morning. He was almost afraid of what he would dream about next.</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>         ~ * ~ * ~ </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>At breakfast, they were all sitting at a table in a nearby diner that Luther picked out. It was a 1950s-themed diner that he remembered eating at when they were sixteen. On that night years ago, it was late and they had just defeated a mad scientist at the Metro Zoo, so they stopped to eat burgers and drink milkshakes before going home. After their waitress dropped off their plates and left, Five took a sip of his coffee and began.</p>
<p>“Alright, so after we go shopping, we then need to come up with a stakeout plan for the Academy. Luther, what’s the best vantage point so that Dad’s cameras won’t pick up on us?”</p>
<p>Luther rubbed his fatigued eyes and groaned. </p>
<p>“Uh...if I remember correctly, his mics and cameras are wired up around the front door and front-facing windows. And he has rooftop cameras on the front side as well.”</p>
<p>“Luther’s right,” nodded Klaus as he took a swig of orange juice. “Lord knows that I tried to sneak in a few girlfriends and boyfriends back in the day. He always caught me!”</p>
<p>“So we should probably set up shop on a taller roof that’s diagonally across…” suggested Diego. “We’re still gonna need binoculars or a telescope. And then that’s the plan? Just sit around and wait?”</p>
<p>“Sounds like it,” confirmed Allison, “I guess we’re going to take turns sleeping in shif---”</p>
<p>Above the diner counter, the TV’s morning news program interrupted by a breaking news report.</p>
<p>
  <em> “This just in...breaking news...police shot and killed an unarmed man in Cleveland this morning. His family was at the scene of the incident.” </em>
  <strong>
    <br/>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>At the counter, a businessman dressed in a suit and tie flagged down a waiter.</p>
<p>“Can you change the channel? I don’t wanna hear that stuff right now.”</p>
<p>“Don’t change it,” Allison shouted to the waiter.  The man rolled his eyes and continued to eat.  He then asked for the check while shooting daggers at their table. Allison continued to watch the program with intensity. She gripped her fork tightly whenever the program interviewed the victim’s family or showed footage of protesters marching through the streets.</p>
<p>“Hey...are you okay?” Klaus asked timidly as he noticed her fingers turning white.</p>
<p>Allison snapped back to the present and lightly chuckled. </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>“You know, that’s the first time that any of you had asked me if I was okay.”</p>
<p>The other siblings looked at each other and at her in bewilderment.</p>
<p>“Wait, what do you mean?” asked Five.</p>
<p>“What the hell do you think?” she snapped, “No. I’m <em> not </em> okay. Did any of you ever once think about how hard it was for me?”</p>
<p>“It was hard for all of us…” Vanya countered. </p>
<p>“No,” Allison snapped, “Not the same. Yeah, it was <em> hard </em> for all of us, but some of us more than others. Back then...I wouldn’t have been able to even <em> sit </em>in a diner like this without them threatening to call the police on me!”</p>
<p>At this point, other customers were staring at their table. Diego nodded as he noticed the attention they were attracting. </p>
<p>“Listen, you’ve been through a lot,” Diego admitted, “...you’re clearly upset. And we get it.”</p>
<p>“Don't say that you ‘get it’!” she shouted, “None of you get it! When you first crash-landed there, did a group of white men chase <em> you </em> down the street and threaten <em> you </em>with bodily harm!?”</p>
<p>Silence cut through their table like a knife. Five was speechless. During their entire ordeal in Dallas, he was so consumed by his plan to bring all of his siblings together to stop the apocalypse that he never once considered how he had inadvertently put his sister in mortal danger just by virtue of her race. At that moment, he felt hopelessly stupid. Luther tried to open his mouth, but words never formed. It took every ounce of control to hold back the tears that were filling his eyes. He reached out to grab her hand, but she immediately withdrew it from his grasp. </p>
<p>“Y-y-you’re right,” Diego stuttered, “And I’m so sorry that we weren’t there for you.”</p>
<p>Allison stood up from the table dabbed at her eyes with a napkin.</p>
<p>“No, I’m so sorry. I need to take a walk. I’m not myself…”</p>
<p>She immediately marched out the door. Vanya sighed and then grabbed her jacket.</p>
<p>“I’m going to go talk to her. We’ll just do our shopping without you.”</p>
<p>Five nodded and handed her some hundreds and a credit card.</p>
<p>“Take it. Go on.” Five murmured into his coffee.</p>
<p>Once Vanya left the diner, Diego, Klaus, Five, and Luther sat in awkward silence until they finished eating. </p>
<p>“So Diego,” began Klaus, “Aside from getting punched out by my dead lover---don’t ask--- but uh...I was running a cult filled with devoted, sexy, followers. So I wasn’t doing too bad back then. How were you?”</p>
<p>Diego shrugged. </p>
<p>“Aside from the whole Lila thing...I was in that mental institution for most of it. Things were...weird. On my paperwork, I was “Colored”. In the facility, that didn’t really matter. When I broke out of that place, sometimes I was treated okay. Sometimes I could go into certain places I wasn’t supposed to, but just be ignored instead of harassed. Got called ‘Beaner’ a couple of times, though... So yeah...not quite like Allison.”</p>
<p>Luther remained silent as he took it in. He felt disgusted with himself. For all night and parts of that morning, he could not help but reminisce about his dream of her. Or of their accidental kiss at the farm. He only rarely thought about her ordeal during that time and how it must have changed her. It is not that he did not notice the racism that surrounded him during that time. But when he thought of Allison---<em> his </em> Allison---he did not think of her race. She was always just Allison Hargreeves to him. He often forgot that she was black. It never occurred to him until now how much of an error that thinking was. He then remembered how elated she and Raymond looked in their wedding photos. Could he really fault her for connecting with him? </p>
<p>“You okay there Big Guy?” Diego gripped Luther’s shoulder, “You’re just staring off into space.”</p>
<p>Luther shook his head and refused to face them.</p>
<p>“I’m not well. I’m a selfish, sick fuck, and I don’t really want to talk about it.”</p>
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<p>Vanya had caught up with Allison. After the two sisters apologized to each other, they regaled each other with stories from their time in Dallas. </p>
<p>“I can’t believe that my sister had it in her to be a little homewrecker!” Allison teased.</p>
<p>“Yeah well...Sissy was sending me plenty of messages. I just...kind of went with it. But what about you and Raymond?”</p>
<p>Allison smiled as they entered a department store.  </p>
<p>“Well, everything just felt natural with Raymond. He was kind and understanding. And incredibly patient. I couldn’t talk for a whole year, and during that time he and my friends at the hair salon just welcomed me into the community. It was like discovering a whole other family! There were so many things I had to learn, though.”</p>
<p>“I can only imagine,” added Vanya as she picked out a green sweater from a rack, “Like what kind of things? I’m just curious.”</p>
<p>“Well,” began Allison as she flipped through various blouses, “For one thing: church. Obviously, we never went to church as kids. But from movies and TV, I always thought that you were supposed to be quiet and stand still at a church. Not the case with that kind of church. Thankfully, I was still mute when Raymond took me on our first ‘church date’. But I still had to get used to clapping along and such.”</p>
<p>“Wow, I didn’t even think about that,” replied Vanya. She picked out pairs of brown and khaki slacks from the rack. </p>
<p>“Also, everyone kept inviting me to cookouts and dinners, but I really didn’t know what to cook. I would just bake a cake or something. But there were so many foods that I was just sort of...expected to know how to cook? Foods I had never really eaten before, or in the case of collard greens, I only ate occasionally when I would check out a soul food restaurant in Inglewood. When we get back home, I will have to show you around Los Angeles sometime.”</p>
<p>“I would like that.” Vanya smiled. <strong><br/><br/></strong></p>
<p>Five, Luther, Klaus, and Diego entered the same department store and headed to the men and boys section. </p>
<p>“I’m not dressing up like a 13-year-old twerp!” snapped Five, “My uniform is just fine. It’s timeless…”</p>
<p>“Dude, it’s <em> rank </em>,” sniped Diego as he held his nose. “You wear it every day and it smells.  No one wanted to say anything, so I’m gonna.”</p>
<p>Embarrassed, Five marched off to the Young Men’s department. On his way, he gave his underarm a cautious whiff.  Klaus grabbed a denim vest and t-shirt before making his way to the Women’s department for a pair of pants. Diego and Luther perused through racks of t-shirts and polos.</p>
<p>“You and I are going to take the first shift in the afternoon,” announced Diego.</p>
<p>“We are?”</p>
<p>“Yup. We need to talk. <em> Alone </em>.”</p>
<p>“I already told you that I don’t want to talk to anyone right now.”</p>
<p>“Bottling it up for years hasn’t helped you.”</p>
<p>Luther stopped in his tracks. He especially was not prepared to have a discussion about <em> that </em> topic. </p>
<p>“I’m going to the Big and Tall section,” he muttered. “I don’t know why I am wasting my time here anyway. It’s not like any of this will fit me.”<strong><br/></strong></p>
<p>On his way past the perfume department, his paths crossed with Allison and Vanya.</p>
<p>“Oh, you guys made it here quickly!” remarked Vanya.<strong><br/></strong></p>
<p>Luther nodded and passed by the two of them without a word. Diego emerged from the aisles with shirts and pants in his arms.</p>
<p>“Well, Luther isn’t in a talking mood,” Diego announced acerbically, “But he and I worked it out and we are going to take over the first shift. We just have to get back to the motel and prepare. Allison, can we speak for a moment? Alone?” </p>
<p>“...Sure,” replied Allison.</p>
<p>She followed him as he walked to the luggage department, which was the most secluded part of the store. Shelves of duffle bags and suitcases surrounded them.</p>
<p>“If this is about this morning at breakfast, then I really am sorry.” began Allison.</p>
<p>"It's not about that. It's about Luther.”</p>
<p>A lump formed in her throat. She always knew that Diego was aware of her and Luther’s secret, but it was rare for him to explicitly acknowledge it in front of her. </p>
<p>“Right,” she sighed, “I told Klaus and Vanya back in Dallas. You have to understand---”</p>
<p>Diego walked towards her and lightly held her shoulder.</p>
<p>“Trust me. I understand,” he said as he nodded. “I’m not judging you or Luther. I just think…that it’s killing him inside. He’s not a whole person like you or me.”</p>
<p>“A ‘whole person’?” she repeated in confusion.</p>
<p>“You know what I mean. He never grew up. He held onto the idea of you for so long that he’s just...kinda stunted. And I think that you and Patrick...and you and Raymond...and everything with Dad and the Moon mission...and his body...I think that he is depressed.”</p>
<p>Allison considered everything that her brother was telling her. It was true. She did not want to admit it, but it was true. She always felt guilty in regards to how she treated him. They were incredibly close as children and teenagers, but every time he expressed interest in other girls, she could not handle it. He belonged to <em> her </em> . He was supposed to <em> always </em> belong to her. Or at least, that’s how she felt when she was a teenager. As she grew older and became more self-conscious of how strange their attachment was, she attempted to move on and meet other men. Was it selfish of her? Perhaps. But at least she was trying to be normal.  </p>
<p>“What should I do?” she pleaded as tears began to well in her eyes. Diego sighed as he rubbed his eyes. He hated seeing her like this.</p>
<p>“Dammit, Allison, I don’t know... I just wouldn’t keep leading him on anymore. It’s not fair.” </p>
<p>“Please! I’m not <em> ‘leading him on’ </em>, Diego!” </p>
<p>“Sorry, that was bad phrasing... just maybe try to put some distance between you two?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” she huffed, “I’ve been trying to do that for the past fifteen years or so. What good that did us.” </p>
<p>Without further discussion, she stormed off out of the aisle. </p>
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<p>At the motel, Allison had the curtains drawn while she laid in bed.  Her, Vanya's, and Klaus’ recon shifts were slated to start at 10 pm that night and end at 8 am.  She knew that she probably was not going to sleep, but the events of the past day had deeply drained her. Will she ever see her beautiful daughter again? Will they be stuck in this timeline forever? Will she have to break Luther’s heart in order to help save him?  She lifted up her pillow and smashed it on her face as she screamed into it. Why did Diego have to tell her? Now all she could think about was all of the ways that she had hurt Luther. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She knew that Diego meant well, but she could not help but be frustrated with him. To his credit, he is more sensitive and empathetic now than when they were kids. Allison always felt tension with him. She remembered when she first started modeling and acting. Whenever she and her siblings were part of a shoot for a teen magazine or merchandise advertisement, she had a natural screen presence and always managed to take direction well. During lunch breaks at craft services, her brothers would stuff their faces with cakes and sandwiches while she grilled the director and producers for any potential opportunities.  Eventually, she landed a one-off modeling gig for a popular teen clothing line. On the shoot, she befriended another young model who in turn introduced her to her father, a casting director. Almost immediately, Allison was invited to audition for a small role in a Hollywood family film that was shooting some scenes in their city. It was described to her as some sort of spy film for teens. After much pleading and begging, Reginald allowed her to accept the audition. Once she aced the audition with flying colors---and with a little bit of help from her powers---Allison presented her case to Reginald as to why she should be allowed to take the job. After much consideration, Reginald granted her permission to join the film’s production, under the stipulation that once the week of scheduled shooting time for her scenes ended, that she immediately returned to the Academy to resume training and superhero duties. Her siblings were shocked when they heard the news of Reginald’s sudden leniency.</p>
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<p>“He won’t even let us take a one week <em> vacation </em>!” exclaimed Ben as the siblings ran laps around the mansion one early morning.</p>
<p>“Yeah, what did you say to him?” asked Luther as he shouted behind him.</p>
<p>Allison picked up her pace as much as possible so as to try her best to keep up with Ben and Luther. </p>
<p>“Well, you know...I’m his little girl!” she smirked.</p>
<p>“Translation: she rumored him!” yelled out Diego as he raced ahead of Luther and Ben.</p>
<p>“Wait, did you?” Luther asked as he stopped running and grabbed Allison’s shoulder to pull her back.</p>
<p>“Well…” she hesitated.</p>
<p>“That’s wrong!” Luther replied as his face lined with worry, “We don’t use our powers on Dad. That’s crossing the line.”</p>
<p>Allison pulled her hand out of his and resumed her jog without him.</p>
<p>“He manipulates us all of the time...” she shrugged.</p>
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<p>After her first film shoot concluded, Allison was hooked. Rehearsing her lines was not the most exciting thing in the world. But interacting with her castmates during a scene gave her a thrill that rivaled her family’s missions. There were plenty of similarities between the two roles that she played. As <em> Superhero Allison </em>, she was already playing a role. By donning her mask, she was wearing a veil of professionalism and certain expectations. Working together with her siblings to disable a homicidal robot or halt a bank robbery required her to perform and react to events in the ways that they had practiced. But at the same time, she had to intuit when to follow her instincts and behave independently. </p>
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<p>As <em> Actor Allison</em>, she found that with enough preparation and practice, she could put herself in the mindset of her character fairly easily. Following directions, nonverbal cues, and her own instincts felt like second nature. To top it all off, she had a certain grace and physicality that caused her acting coach to ask whether she ever took dance lessons. Once the shoot ended and she returned to the routine at the Academy, she felt as if she were walking around the mansion with a large void in her chest. A part of her felt silly when she knew that she should just be grateful to even have the opportunity. She could tell that Diego and Ben in particular were quite envious of her “vacation”.  But she still could not help but wish for another opportunity. Acting was fun because she could finally separate herself from <em> Allison the Superhero</em>.  The work did not entail mortal danger for herself and everyone around her.  But back at the academy, that fact was constantly drilled into her head. Make one misstep and Luther dies. Lose track of your situational awareness and Diego dies. Hesitate at the wrong time and Klaus dies. Move too slowly and Ben dies. <br/><br/>With Five’s absence, she and Vanya filled in some of the vacuum that he left behind. Both sisters were now the most academically inclined out of all of the kids. Not quite as sharp as Five or as gifted in mathematics. But Vanya was often the top student in every class with Allison as a second. The only exception was their six foreign language classes in which Allison discovered that she had a gift in picking up languages with minimal effort.  She remembered one day when they were in their Spanish class. Pogo announced that she achieved the highest marks on an exam. Diego banged his fist on his desk.</p>
<p>“That’s because she used her powers!” he yelled out. </p>
<p>“No I didn’t!” she snapped, “I don’t <em> need </em>to use my powers to be better than you at something.”</p>
<p>"Now children---," Pogo interjected. </p>
<p>“You never struggle with <em>anything</em>! It’s not fair. You’re a fucking <em> witch </em>!” he spat.</p>
<p>“Hey!” Luther shouted from the desk behind Diego, “You can’t call her that!”</p>
<p>“Dude fuck off!  Your head is so far up her skirt that you can’t even---” Diego could not finish his insult before Luther left his desk and punched him in the back. Diego bent over in pain as he tried to regain the breath that was knocked out of his lungs. Klaus and Ben each grabbed one of Luther’s arms and pulled him off of his brother.</p>
<p><br/>“I don’t know what in the world that was all about!” shouted Pogo, “And frankly...I don’t even <em> want </em>to know. But this is unacceptable behavior. The two of you will run ten laps around this mansion, this instant! Reginald will hear of this.”</p>
<p>So jealousy had to be the culprit. He was jealous of her talents and success. But could it be possible that he was jealous of her close relationship with Luther? Was it out of some weird alpha male bullshit? Perhaps at one point. But not anymore. Whatever conflict they had as children was resolved by now. He was not warning her about Luther because he was trying to hurt her. He was just trying to be a good brother.</p>
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<p>On the rooftop across from the Sparrow Academy mansion, Diego peered through a pair of binoculars as Luther finished eating a large submarine sandwich that was intended for catered events. Five was asleep in a sleeping bag and wearing his new black and white polo shirt and jeans.</p>
<p>“I can’t believe this,” groaned Diego, “These Sparrow guys are total shut-ins. Not a single one of them took a step outside of that place? For six hours?”</p>
<p>“You sure that you don’t want any of this?” he offered to his brother.</p>
<p>“Nah,” Diego replied. We have a few hours before Allison and Klaus take over, anyway. I’ll grab something to eat once this shift ends. Speaking of Allison…”</p>
<p>“Ugh, here we go.” groaned Luther as he balled up the rest of the sandwich in its wrapper. </p>
<p>“You’ve given me no choice, man,” replied Diego as he kept his vision trained on the front door of the academy, “You’re bitter and depressed. And it’s not healthy.”</p>
<p>“Like it’s any of your business…” Luther spat.</p>
<p>Diego removed the binoculars and rubbed his eyes in exasperation. </p>
<p>“Can you guess why I care so much?” he asked earnestly.</p>
<p>Luther ignored his question and began rifling through their tool bag. </p>
<p>“I care,” stated Diego, “because you’re family. And believe it or not, your behavior affects all of us.”</p>
<p>Luther ceased searching through the tool bag and let Diego’s words sink in. </p>
<p>“I just...don’t know how to get better,”  responded Luther.</p>
<p>“That’s understandable,”  affirmed Diego as he walked over to Luther’s side.</p>
<p>“And I hate being judged. Everywhere I go, people stare at me like...like I’m some kind of <em> freak </em> .” Luther whispered as he watched Five sleeping across from them.  “And I don’t want my family giving me that same look because of something wrong with me...on the <em> inside </em>.”</p>
<p>Diego nodded and thought about what was said.</p>
<p>“You know that we don’t judge you, man. You’re a good brother. And you tried to be a good leader. And if you’re worried about the...the <em> thing </em> with Allison, then I don’t think any of us judge you for that either.” </p>
<p>Luther released a skeptical chortle. </p>
<p>“Yeah, <em> sure </em>you don’t…”</p>
<p>Diego bit his lip as he thought over what he wanted to divulge to his brother. He took a deep breath and then began.</p>
<p>“You know...I had a thing for Allison too.”</p>
<p>Luther suddenly snapped out of his trance and gave Diego a surprised look.</p>
<p>“It was a phase. But even when we were kids, I was jealous that you and she were so close. I guess that a part of me...a part of me hated that you were ‘Number One’ and you were the leader that we all had to look up to. You had it all. Good looks. No speech impediments or anything…. and you had someone who adored you. Even when we were kids, I saw that...and I think it fucked with me.”</p>
<p>Luther continued to stare at Diego in complete shock. He did not even know what to say at that moment.</p>
<p>“But I got older. Started noticing things that were...messed up about all of us. And I wanted to leave. I became my own man. I met some nice girls…and I just moved on. I wished that you could have moved on sooner, Luther.”</p>
<p><br/><br/>Luther and Diego remained quiet for some time. Luther relieved Diego of his role and he started his shift of watching the academy through binoculars. There were moments where he felt a great irony in their situation. When they were children, the entire world was desperate to know what it was like behind those closed doors. Paparazzi and journalists swarmed them whenever they were spotted outside of it. But now he and his siblings were on the outside looking in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“When did you know, Diego?” Luther asked while peering through the binoculars.</p>
<p>Diego took a swig of a water bottle and then crushed it.</p>
<p>“Know what?”</p>
<p>“When did you know that we were too fucked up? That you had to leave?” clarified Luther.</p>
<p>Diego scratched his head and tried to remember.</p>
<p>“Well...it was back during our seventeenth birthday. So before Ben died.”</p>
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<p>Diego continued to tell Luther about how he recalled their birthday during that fateful October night. The Umbrella Academy had completed a series of challenging missions one after the other. Their latter mission involved the entire team getting captured by Dr. Terminal and having to escape his labyrinthine lair while avoiding his robots---an ordeal that went on for five days straight. As a reward, Pogo requested that the children have the night off from duties, as well as the next day. The teens decided that a night out to the movies would be a fun way to celebrate their birthday and night off from duties. As usual, Vanya was excluded from their plans, much to her disappointment. The reasoning this time was that the night out was not just a birthday gift, but was a reward for their harrowing mission. While on the walk to the multiplex, Klaus’ new boyfriend, Jacob, met up with them and tagged along. Luther and Allison were not walking next to each other as they normally did. Instead, Luther was talking with Ben while Allison stayed close to Diego and Klaus. Earlier that week when returning from the Dr. Terminus mission, Luther saved a civilian from the claw projectile of one of Terminus’ robots. After blocking the projectile and hurling it into the city’s river, the young blonde girl surprised him with a kiss on the lips in front of the other Umbrella kids. After the brief kiss, the girl wrote her number on his hand. Ever since that incident, the tension between Luther and Allison were palpable. Where they were once inseparable and affectionate, they were now bitter towards each other. The rest of the Hargreeves siblings noticed their peculiar change but did not remark on it. It was always obvious whenever Luther and Allison had a fight, and they always reconciled.  While walking beside her, Diego noticed that every so often, Allison’s hand would brush by his. Was it completely an accident? He was not so sure. Not that he was complaining about the accidental touch. As the siblings were about to enter the building, Klaus and Jacob shepherded the siblings into the alleyway.</p>
<p>“What’s this about?” Diego asked skeptically.</p>
<p>Jacob and Klaus smiled as they emptied their pockets. Jacob pulled a silver flask out of his jacket pocket as Klaus presented two joints.</p>
<p>“I figured that since you all bust your ass 24/7, that you might want to let loose for the night.” announced Jacob, “Consider this my gift to you all!”</p>
<p>“You’ve got to be kidding me!” blurted out Luther.</p>
<p>To everyone’s surprise, Ben motioned to Jacob to pass him the flask. After taking a big sip, Ben began to choke.</p>
<p>“Woah, take it easy there Boy Scout!”</p>
<p>Coughing and sputtering, Ben passed the flask to Diego. Diego took a cautious sniff and then a small sip before grimacing. Allison motioned him to pass the flask to her, which he obliged. Allison took a long gulp from the container without sputtering. Only her teary eyes betrayed her nonchalance.</p>
<p>“Wow, that wasn’t your first drink, huh?” asked Jacob.</p>
<p>“Nope,” she replied, “Klaus shared some vodka with me sometime last year.”</p>
<p>Luther cast a shocked expression her way. When Allison passed the flask to him, he declined. Once Klaus lit a joint, he took a puff and held it out.</p>
<p>“Anyone want something a little different?”</p>
<p>“Hell no!” barked Diego.</p>
<p>“Absolutely not!” exclaimed Luther. </p>
<p>Ben shook his head and rolled his eyes.</p>
<p>“Come on Ben, you <em> like </em>weed!” countered Klaus.</p>
<p>The other siblings stared at Ben in surprise. Feeling their judgment and stares, Ben defended himself.</p>
<p>“I only tried it twice! It's okay, but I can take it or leave it.”</p>
<p>Allison extended her hand. Klaus passed the joint to her.</p>
<p>“Are you serious?” Luther shrieked.</p>
<p>After taking several puffs and coughing on the smoke, Allison passed the joint to Jacob.</p>
<p>“Is <em> Number One </em> going to narc on us to Daddy Dearest?” she teased. </p>
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<p>Luther angrily left the alley and turned to enter the theater. Ben and Diego followed suit while Allison, Klaus, and Jacob stayed behind. In the theater, Luther sat in between Ben and Diego. Diego saved the seat next to him for Allison. After the previews ended, Allison, Klaus, and Jacob entered their row just as the opening credits rolled. Once Allison sat next to Diego, he offered her some popcorn. She enthusiastically grabbed some and ate. The film was not one of Diego’s favorites. It was the type of cheesy slasher film that seemed to have stoned teenagers in mind. Starring a chainsaw-wielding mutant, the movie was rife with goofy sight gags, over the top gore, and ridiculous dialog. The only scenes he enjoyed were the sex scenes between the camp counselors. At some point during a chase scene, Allison’s hand grasped his. Diego stared at their hands and immediately scanned down the row to watch Luther. To his relief, Luther was engaged with the movie. Diego relaxed into his seat as he assessed the situation. Should he withdraw his hand? What did this mean? Was he overthinking things? Knowing Allison and Luther, they would be back together by next month. That’s usually how it worked. But then again, this was possibly the worst fight they had ever had. So was this his opening? He swallowed a lump in his throat. Ever since he turned fifteen, he found himself in a shameful situation: he was attracted to Allison in the same way that Luther was. And that disgusted him. Some months he could suppress it and shove those feelings deep down until he forgot about them. But at that moment, holding her hand was awakening those feelings in him again and he could not process them fast enough to determine what needed to be done. Two thirds into the film, she began to lean on him and rest her head against his. Diego’s heart was beating out of his chest. The sudden warmth and intimacy were unlike anything he ever experienced before. Even hugging Mom was more like hugging a metal frame encased in cold silicone. At that moment, he completely understood why Luther always went back to her. Living in their sterile, cold, home was enough to make a man starved for this kind of affection. He quickly glanced down the row and locked eyes with Luther’s perturbed gaze. Immediately, Diego withdrew away from her and jerked his attention towards the screen. Allison grabbed his hand once more. </p>
<p>“Why are you doing this?” he whispered under his breath.</p>
<p>Allison leaned into him close enough so that her lips brushed against his ear.</p>
<p>“Why <em> not </em>do this?” she asked.</p>
<p>“Huh?” Diego couldn’t understand her response. “Luther is <em> pissed!” </em></p>
<p>“He thinks that he owns me. I <em> hate </em>it.” she continued.</p>
<p>Luther stood up and stomped off towards the theater exit. Diego was about to stand up and follow him before Allison pulled on his arm. He thought better of confronting his brother and returned to his seat. Now would be the worst time to talk to him. Once seated, Allison resumed resting her head against his. At some point, something clicked in Diego’s mind. He now understood why she was suddenly showering him with affection.</p>
<p>“If you care about him, then stop torturing him,” he whispered to her.</p>
<p>Allison was taken aback while Diego withdrew his hand from hers and diverted his attention to the screen. He was visibly disgusted with her. On the way back to the academy, Diego trailed behind them and walked alone. He watched as Ben, Klaus, and Jacob excitedly chattered about the film. Every so often, Allison would chime in about acting-related trivia while Luther awkwardly remained silent. Several months later, just as Diego predicted, Allison and Luther were on much friendlier terms. Not quite as close as they used to be, but they had clearly reconciled. </p>
<p>“And when Ben died, that was the last straw. I had to leave,” concluded Diego.</p>
<p>Luther swallowed a hard lump in this throat. He remembered his anger and jealousy from that night. </p>
<p>“Hey, Luther! Check that out!” Diego barked as he pointed at a large black town-car emerging from the side garage of the Academy. </p>
<p>Luther tracked the car through the binoculars.</p>
<p>“It looks like they’re in the car.”</p>
<p>“How many of them? <em> All </em>of them?”</p>
<p>“Hard to tell. But I think so. At the very least, most of them.”</p>
<p>Luther and Diego made eye contact and nodded. Who knows when they would have another opportunity? Diego lightly patted Five on the shoulder. After sputtering and cursing, Five awoke, and then in a flash of light, he vanished. Five’s first jump landed him in the vestibule of the Academy.  He ducked under the reception table and briefly scanned the foyer to determine that neither Pogo nor Grace was patrolling the parlor room. Satisfied, he teleported to the desk of Reginald’s office. </p>
<p><em> Hopefully, the old man is asleep </em> . <em> Time to start scrambling for those notes. </em></p>
<p>Five clicked on a desk lamp and quietly pulled out drawer after drawer and dumping the notebooks. Once he had a pile of them, he splayed them on the desk and began flipping through them. As each notebook disappointed him with irrelevant notes on the Sparrow Academy students and financial matters, Five felt the chills of anxiety prick his neck. Of course this plan was stupid. How could he think this would work? This version of Reginald only briefly met Five in this timeline, so why would he even be interested enough in time travel to keep detailed notes on the subject? Five immediately shook his head to cast the doubt out of his mind. Reginald advised him on time travel back in the 1960s. It was not too far fetched to think that he would have kept some calculations or notes on the subject...or was it? Having skimmed through each notebook, Five slumped down beside the desk. If he could not find the notes in his study, then he would have to check the library stacks. How much time did he even have before the Sparrow Academy returned home? Or before Reginald woke up for his early morning exercise and breakfast? Or before Reginald reviewed the surveillance footage and discovered that he had intruded into the mansion? The boy covered his face in his hands and tried to think quickly. Before removing his hands, he caught a glimpse of something through his fingers. He removed his hands and slowly rose to his feet. </p>
<p>On the wall across from him was a wrinkled, stained, notepad pinned to the wall. While walking over towards the notepad, he saw that the first sheet of notepad paper had a scribbled drawing of an umbrella. Not just any umbrella, but an umbrella circumscribed in a circle. Five immediately recognized it as resembling the circumscribed umbrella tattooed to his wrist. He quickly ripped the notepad off of the wall and flipped through the pages. </p>
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  <em> Dallas - 1963:     </em>
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  <em> Six young men and women are claiming to be my adoptive children. All claim to possess preternatural powers.  </em>
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<ul>
<li><em>A large blond man. Doesn’t appear too bright. I suspect steroid use, but he claims it’s the result of something that I did to him in the future. How curious. </em></li>
<li><em>A Negro woman who claims to control reality as well as other’s free will. Could possibly be a schizophrenic delusion, but such a power would be extremely useful in nearly every situation. I will have to investigate further. </em></li>
<li><em>A swarthy young man with an inferiority complex and father issues. Quite troubled and antagonistic. A bad stutter as well.</em></li>
<li><em>A homosexual hippie.  He claimed that their other brother is a ghost and is standing next to them.</em></li>
<li><em>A small young woman with a Slavic name. She did not speak much. So slight in build and sullen in demeanor that she could almost be mistaken for a teenage boy.</em></li>
<li><em>An actual teenage boy. Quite shocking. He discussed matters of temporal jumps and lateral teleportation with ease and precocity. Such a gifted young lad would be better off with a mentor. </em></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <em> These malcontents all claim that I am the cause of their dysfunction in another timeline. I will make sure to avoid them when forming my own academy. The one member that I would prefer to retain is The Boy.  He needs the right mathematical mind to guide him… </em>
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<p>Five’s eyes widened as he read the next few pages of formulas and mathematical proofs. He jumped into the air and pumped his fist in delight. </p>
<p>“Fuck yeah! This is it!” <strong><br/></strong></p>
<p>Immediately, Five heard loud footsteps racing towards the office. </p>
<p>“Who is trespassing?” Roared Reginald’s voice. Five could also hear the loud click of a shotgun being loaded. <strong><br/></strong></p>
<p>In the blink of an eye, Five jumped back to the building rooftop across the street of the Academy and landed in the same spot as his sleeping bag. </p>
<p>“Oh shit, you’re back!” exclaimed Vanya. She, Allison, and Klaus had joined Luther and Diego in waiting for his return. </p>
<p>“Yup. I need some more time to digest this stuff, but yeah. This looks like it’s it. He filled out the rest of this notepad with calculations.” </p>
<p>Diego nodded and began walking towards the rooftop exit. </p>
<p>“Let’s take this study session back to the motel. Before those Sparrow Freaks come back.”</p>
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<p>* * *</p>
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<p>Back at Vanya and Allison’s motel room, the siblings were holding hands in a circle. </p>
<p>“Okay, so let me explain one last time,” announced Five, “I have to reverse our jump by the second. I have Dad’s time formulas for age-dilated calculations, so I can do that quickly. But we have to go back to that night we had dinner with dad and prevent that from happening. Then go back to when Luther took the bus and confronted Dad.  Then go back and fix every moment that we excluded Vanya. Every moment that we caused some damage...and then when we’ve gone back as far as we can go, we have to count forward to 2019.”</p>
<p>“This is so crazy,” muttered Klaus.</p>
<p>“Yeah, what if something goes wrong again and we mess up?” Luther asked urgently.</p>
<p>“What do you mean ‘we’?” demanded Five, “I’m doing all the work!”.</p>
<p>Luther nodded and remained silent while he kept his remaining thoughts to himself.</p>
<p>“Besides,” huffed Five, “If <em> I </em> mess up, then we will have an even bigger mess to clean up. A mess that we may not even be able to. So I’m trying to avoid that entirely.” </p>
<p>After a long silence, Five’s fists began glowing. He closed his eyes and began mentally calculating. Blue waves radiated around his siblings.  Each of them felt as if they were on a rollercoaster being thrust backward. Unnatural waves of an unseen force rippled from inside of their bodies. And then just like that, they vanished. </p>
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<p>     * * *</p>
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  <em>          ~*2019*~ </em>
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<p>In a flash of blue light, the siblings arrived back in the foyer of the Academy. Exhausted and stumbling to regain balance, they were time-sick and fatigued. </p>
<p>“Is this it?” asked Vanya, “Did we really make it back?”</p>
<p>Allison lifted her arm to point at the portrait over the fireplace mantle. Instead of it being a portrait of Ben, it was back to being a portrait of Five.</p>
<p>“Well that’s back to normal at least,” sighed Diego in relief. </p>
<p>The Hargreeves siblings soon realized that the Academy was vacant. They cried out for Reginald, Pogo, and Grace, but not a soul responded to them. They decided to travel the mansion as a group in hopes of coming across the others. </p>
<p>“Wait, I have an idea,” said Diego, “Come with me.” </p>
<p>The siblings followed Diego up the stairs to the art gallery wall that was Grace’s normal resting space. Grace was nowhere to be found, but Diego quickly pointed out some framed photos that did not belong. </p>
<p>“Check this out! When we went back in time to the movie theater night, I told Grace to stand up for herself a little more...and I may have done a little short-circuiting...All of that just to get her to ask Reginald if she could make the space more personal for her.”</p>
<p>“You did what?!” exclaimed Five, “That wasn’t part of the plan, Diego.”</p>
<p>“Who cares? Look!” shouted Diego excitedly as he pointed to a photo of Vanya with her orchestra at their winter concert. </p>
<p>“Oh my god! I’m in First Chair!” shouted Vanya, “And not just in that photo, but another. And another! I was First Chair for more than one year?! How is that possible? Did I use my powers to get that good?”</p>
<p>“Because you were nurtured.” chimed in Allison, “We supported you in everything. I remember when we went back in time, I told my younger self all about the Rumor, and the pills and how we were harming you. I think that me...or...Younger Me helped you realize that you weren’t alone or unworthy.”</p>
<p>Five pointed out a framed photo of Luther and an unknown redheaded woman on their wedding day. </p>
<p>“Uh...huh. What do you know?"<strong><br/></strong></p>
<p>Klaus, Diego, Five, and Vanya turned to stare at Luther and Allison. Allison turned to Luther, her face the look of pure shock. Luther averted his eyes and refused to make eye contact. </p>
<p>“Well there’s no photos of Ben here...so uh. Let’s go outside and see if the statue is around, at least,” Klaus’ voice trailed off as he descended the staircase.</p>
<p>The other four siblings agreed and followed suit in awkward silence. Allison’s body shook as she pointed at the framed wedding photo on the wall.</p>
<p>“Who is that?” </p>
<p>“I...I don’t know.”</p>
<p>Unsatisfied, Allison removed the photo from the wall and studied it more closely. Luther’s body was a normal size. No hint of ape mutation at all.</p>
<p>“What did you do, Luther?” she whispered.</p>
<p>Luther shrugged. </p>
<p>“When we jumped to that night we went to the movies...when we were 17? I pulled aside my younger self and I told him...I told him...to move on.”</p>
<p>“ ‘Move on’?” she repeated blankly. </p>
<p>“Yes,” he nodded and then faced her. “I told him to let you go. And to leave as soon as he could. Join the military or something. Just...just get away and see the world.”<strong><br/></strong></p>
<p>Allison nodded as tears raced down her face. </p>
<p>“I’m not angry at you, Luther.”</p>
<p>“Are you sure? Because it’s okay if you are---,” he started as he walked towards her.</p>
<p>“No!” she shouted, “It’s <em> not </em> okay. I <em> shouldn’t </em> be angry. I <em> shouldn’t </em>be angry...I know it’s the right thing to do. You did the right thing, Luther.” <strong><br/></strong></p>
<p>Unsure of what to do, Luther embraced Allison and held her close. Tears dotted his eyes as he felt Allison bury her face into his chest. His heart felt like it was tearing itself apart. </p>
<p>“I’m sorry, Alli,” he whispered, “I’m so sorry.” </p>
<p>Allison broke the hug and walked back towards the wall and studied it. Almost immediately, she found an old photo of her, Patrick, and Claire at Santa Monica Beach. She remembered that day vividly and instantly felt comforted. </p>
<p>“It’s fine, Luther. Really, it is.”</p>
<p>Diego, Klaus, Vanya, and Five could be heard returning into the parlor room from outside. Luther quickly wiped away his tears and walked over to the balcony. </p>
<p>“Is Ben’s statue still there?”  he shouted down to them.</p>
<p>“Yup,” replied Klaus dejectedly. “He’s still dead…”</p>
<p>Luther and Allison descended the staircase and joined the rest of the four at the bar lounge where all except Diego and Klaus poured themselves glasses of liquor and mixers. </p>
<p>“How about a toast to normalcy?” asked Klaus cautiously while sipping on a club soda, “Or is it too soon for that?” </p>
<p>“Too soon.” Luther, Allison, Vanya, and Five all replied in unison.</p>
<p>As if remembering something, Vanya whipped out of her barstool and ran towards the foyer’s reception table. </p>
<p>“Hey, where are you going, sis?” asked Diego.</p>
<p><br/>Vanya picked up a newspaper from the table and waved it to them. </p>
<p>“Hey, it still says the right date. And there is an ad for my winter concert. With me as First Chair. Just like it was before.”</p>
<p>“Great!” replied Luther, “Now get over here and celebrate!”</p>
<p>Vanya became lost in thought as she slowly walked back to the bar. </p>
<p>“What’s wrong, Vanya?” asked Five, “Everything checks out?”</p>
<p>“Silly question, Five. But if I’m here...then I’m <em> not </em>at my concert, right?” </p>
<p>Five scoffed before taking a sip of his glass of scotch. “Well yeah, duh. Of course you’re here and not there...oh...<em> oh shit! </em>”</p>
<p>“What?” barked Diego,</p>
<p>“Don’t you get it?!” shouted Five, “I forgot about the duplication effect! <em> Fuck </em>!”</p>
<p>“The <em> what </em>?” Asked Allison in confusion.<strong><br/></strong></p>
<p>At that moment, the front door to the mansion opened. The siblings could hear laughter and discussion erupting from the foyer. </p>
<p>
  <em> “You are all lucky that I felt like making a public appearance at all!” Reginald’s familiar voice boomed through the hall. </em>
</p>
<p>“Oh no…” groaned Diego as he palmed his face in frustration.</p>
<p>
  <em> “Well either way, I appreciate you being there, Dad.” exclaimed Vanya’s voice. </em>
</p>
<p>“Oh fuck no…” groaned Luther as he scratched his neck and began to remember his ordeal with Five and Five’s Past-Older Self. </p>
<p>
  <em> “Oh whatever,”  snapped Reginald, “Grace insisted. And I figured that some publicity would help with merchandise sales. We’re still making a profit off of those, believe it or not. Collectors and hobbyists, you know.”  </em>
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<p>Laughter and chatter ceased once the voices became louder. </p>
<p>
  <em> “Wait, all of the lights are on.” boomed Luther’s voice in the distance, “Do you hear that? Sarah, stay back. We’ll handle this. If you are an intruder, then leave right now! You have been warned” </em>
</p>
<p> The siblings braced themselves as they turned around on their barstools towards the foyer entrance. Diego stood to attention and readied his knives. Luther, Vanya, and Allison also rose to their feet in preparation. Beads of sweat rolled down their brows as they each began scratching heads, arms, necks, and faces. </p>
<p>“What is happening to us?!” shrieked Vanya.</p>
<p>Klaus and Five remained hunched over the bar and glared at each other out of fatigue.</p>
<p>“This shit is getting old, man.” groaned Klaus as he began scratching his neck.</p>
<p>“Shut up, Klaus.” hissed Five as he kept his head buried in his arms on the bar table.<strong><br/><br/><br/><br/></strong></p>
<p>“Just...just shut the hell up.”</p>
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<p>THE END </p>
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